Third Proud Boys member arrested in connection to Capitol riot

A third member of the far-right Proud Boys group was arrested this week on conspiracy charges related to his role in the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill.

The Justice Department announced Friday that it arrested Matthew Greene, 33, of Syracuse, N.Y., and that he made his first appearance in court Wednesday. The arrest comes months after two other New York Proud Boys members, Dominic Pezzola, 43, of Rochester, and William Pepe, 31, of Beacon, were arrested on conspiracy charges. 

In addition to other crimes, all three men are charged with conspiracy to obstruct, influence and impede an official proceeding and conspiracy to obstruct, influence, impede and interfere with law enforcement officers who were responding to the riot at the Capitol. 

An indictment detailing the charges says that the three men conspired to travel together to Washington and purchased various communications supplies to coordinate their efforts. They also purposefully dressed in clothing to try to conceal their affiliation with the Proud Boys before they stormed the Capitol.

The three men largely stuck together during the insurrection, which unsuccessfully sought to halt Congress’s certification of the Electoral College results from the 2020 presidential election, and assisted the mob’s efforts to advance through the complex.

Pezzola is also accused of confronting a Capitol Police officer and using the officer’s riot shield to smash a Capitol window.

News of Greene’s arrest comes the same day the Justice Department announced charges against four other people accused of assaulting officers during the Capitol riot.

Greene’s incarceration suggests prosecutors are ramping up their actions against the Proud Boys, a self-described “pro-Western fraternal organization.” A number of other members of the group have also been charged, though not on conspiracy charges.

Conspiracy charges have also been announced against three members of the militia group the Oath Keepers over their alleged role in the chaos on Capitol Hill.

The case against Greene, Pezzola and Pepe is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, as well as the Metropolitan Police Department.